Palm Beach County residents were asked:
Please tell us about an important moment in your life that would help someone understand what it’s like living in your neighborhood.
The stories and micro-narratives they submitted (as part of the We Are Here SenseMaker project) are listed below. Click ZOOM IN to learn more about the community member and how they interpreted their submission. NOTE: Some stories were partially transcribed by volunteers who shortened the narratives and referred to the storytellers in the third person (e.g., “her experience was” instead of “my experience was”).
I remember there was an incident of a boy getting shot by my house. The whole city was not so much shocked because we know how it is nowadays. But the thing is everybody in the community was there for the parents and family like we all were family.
I remember a school shooting happened. It didn’t happened my neighborhood. But the local high school in Boynton was supporting them. The had a moment of silence and was supporting the families.
Better to live here from where I lived. Better opportunities in the community.
At the age of 13 I was in a fatal car accident that caused me to be in a wheel chair. My community came together to support my mom because my Father died in the crash. I’m still alive here today and although it has changed my life, the love remain the same
Working with a single mother who had become homeless in a neighborhood that she was raised in to find resources was very difficult. She didn’t want to be judged, labeled, or marginalized. But living now in the same neighborhood she once thrived in, gave her a new perspective as she realized the severe resource scarcity she was facing with 2 young children. Her story made me realize that life can happen to anyone and anytime and having access to resources in your own neighborhood can truly make an impact in how you bounce back from a traumatic event in your life.
An important time in my life was when my whole neighborhood came together as one it felt great to see us all come together. Through all the pain , suffrage killings and all we still was able to come together as a black community as we should. It was important for me because in my time it wasn’t like this it was different i wasn’t able to swing on that purple swing right there i wasn’t able to drink from that water fountain but now my grandkids can my nephews my kids kids everyone all together are able to be as one.